© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate
(Sept. 30) – After nearly four decades with the Dallas Bar Association, Executive Director Cathy Maher will retire at the end of 2016.
Maher has been the executive director for 21 years and served in multiple other roles with the DBA before that.
Throughout her 37-year tenure, she has been a firsthand witness to drastic transformations the association has undergone – from 3,500 members to nearly 11,000 members; from headquarters in a small room at the Adolphus Hotel to the Belo Mansion, where one room alone is 7,000 square feet; from hosting very few CLE programs to offering more than 400 CLE programs per year; from pre-Internet to the height of the Digital Age.
“I have seen us move from no computers, no Internet to the computer age,” Maher said. “It was a big deal when we got our first fax machine.”
Maher started working at the DBA in 1978, when she was asked to temporarily fill in for a staff member on maternity leave. She served as an interviewer in the Lawyer Referral Service, which facilitates the connection between lawyers and local residents in need of legal services.
She never left.
Today, as executive director, she is responsible for the overall operations of the DBA as well as its Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, Lawyer Referral Service and the Belo Mansion and Pavilion.
“The Dallas Bar Association has grown and thrived during Cathy’s tenure, as reflected by the regional, state and national awards and recognition we have received,” DBA President Brad Weber said in a statement. “The DBA remains a model for many other bar associations and has greatly benefited from Cathy’s leadership and service.”
Of her numerous achievements, Maher is most proud of her leading role in the campaign that raised $14 million to build the Pavilion, which opened at the Belo Mansion in 2003. The Pavilion was built after the need to accommodate the DBA’s ever-growing membership and features a 7,000-square-foot ballroom that is now host to numerous important events of the association.
Maher said she hopes her successor appreciates the DBA’s rich history while helping future boards remain open to new opportunities.
“The practice of law is undergoing vast changes to which bar associations must remain attuned,” she said. “At the same time, I think bar associations of the future must play a vital role in maintaining law as a profession, not just a business. Our next executive director must have both the vision and the fortitude to face these challenges.”
For the DBA, Maher hopes it will continue to “bring up the next generation of lawyers” and continue its commitment to diversity among the bar.
“There are many demands on young lawyers and it is very important that they have mentoring relationships and become involved in the DBA to meet other lawyers and serve the bar,” she said. “It will make them better lawyers.”
Her biggest piece of advice to her successor is twofold: Spend time with the staff because “they keep the wheels turning” and members always come first.
“Always make them a priority and help them feel at home,” she said. “It may seem old fashioned, but I think personal notes are still important and I do a lot of that to thank members.”
Her retirement is still more than a year away, but Maher knows her immediate plans after retirement will be to commit more time to community service and to travel.
“I have spent so much time concentrating on the DBA that I have not had as much time as I would have liked to give back to the community,” she said. “I will now have the time to do that and I really look forward to it.”
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